Rocket Boots and Redheads: A Terraria Love Story
by ObsidianFlutes
Summary: The Goblin Tinkerer and the Mechanic have always had crushes on each other. Need I say more?
1. Chapter 1: Sarx

Chapter 1: Sarx

I'll just start out by saying it: She was beautiful. When Shoshanna brought her to the village that first day, and I saw her carrot orange hair rippling in the wind, her blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight, I became suddenly aware of my physical shortcomings.

First of all, my biggest "shortcoming" was just that. The only person I could look in the eye without having to crane my neck was Gimli, the demolitionist, and come on, he's a _dwarf._

Second of all, a bottle rocket exploded in my face when I was little, and as a result I have to wear these huge Coke-bottle glasses. They cover a good part of my face, but you can still see my blue skin and pointy little ears.

That's right. I'm a goblin. And goblins and humans can't mix well.

And yet... when she turned to look at me, instead of quickly looking away or pointing and laughing, this redheaded goddess actually _held my gaze._ She smiled, revealing a row of small, perfect, white teeth. I smiled back, and I could feel the blood rushing all the way to the tips of my ears.

"Gather round, citizens. This is the new mechanic, Ginger," said Shoshanna, the mayor of the village.

_Ginger. What a beautiful name. Like her hair. And a mechanic, too!_

The various citizens of the village gathered around and applauded the new arrival. I saw Dante, the gunsmith, look at her and leer, and something inside me sank. Of _course _I had no chance. Not with a swaggering presence like Dante strutting around.

"Come on, Ginger. Your house is this way," Shoshanna said, leading her away from the village council and to a little house nearby. My heart gave a leap when I realized that she lived next door to me.

Suddenly, Dante darted in front of the door to her house and leaned nonchalantly against the door, swinging his gold watch chain.

"Hey, Nutmeg, how's about I show you around the town, eh?" he drawled, winking suggestively at her.

"Dante!" Shoshanna reprimanded him. "You know the rules. No hitting on the new arrivals, and besides, her name is Ginger! And you're seeing Maddie, anyways. I can't believe you, you sicko."

"Sheesh, Shosh," Dante drawled in a smooth voice, "not in front of the lady." But he tucked his watch in his pocket and slunk off.

After Shoshanna had left, I knocked on her door. She opened it. "Yes?" She smiled down at me. Her voice was beautiful and melodious. For a second, I was speechless.

Then, I remembered what to say. "Um, I'm Sarx," I managed to stammer out, sweat beading on my forehead. "I, um, live next door?"

She laughed, a clear and bell-like sound. "Ginger," she said, and shook my hand. It felt like my hand was on fire.

"N-nice to meet you," I spluttered, and then I bolted for my own home.

I couldn't sleep that night, I was so happy.


	2. Chapter 2: Ginger

Chapter 2: Ginger

I couldn't believe the contrast. One second, I was bound in the dungeon, shivering with fear and surrounded by skeletons, and the next, Shoshanna was introducing me to the village. I really liked the turn of events.

But when I saw the cute goblin, I thought I was hallucinating.

He was small, blue-skinned, with pointy little ears and large glasses. He wore a loose white shirt and a red tie, and his pockets bulged with screws, blueprints and the odd bit of wire. A tinkerer of some kind. I'd encountered goblins before, but they tended not to be innovators. I focused on his hands. Sure enough, faint scars ran around his wrists. He'd suffered the same fate as me: bound, thrown underground to die, but rescued in the nick of time by Shoshanna. I felt humiliated, looking at the tender blisters on my own wrists, but then quickly glanced up and smiled at him. He smiled nervously back, revealing small, pointed teeth, and he blushed all the way up to the tips of his ears.

Shoshanna led me to a nice little house on a block of six. I was about to go in and string up my blinking-light collection, when a shady-looking dude sidled up and tried to hit on me. Shoshanna reprimanded him and sent him away, and then I went inside to start doing my mechanic stuff: setting up wifi, putting up blinking lights, et cetera.

A soft knock sounded at my door. I opened it to find the cute goblin shyly looking up at me.

"Um, I'm Sarx," he stammered. "I, um, live next door?"

I laughed. "Ginger," I said, and shook his hand. It was cool and scaly-smooth like snakeskin, each finger tipped with a small, dull claw.

"N-nice to meet you," he blurted, and ran away. I watched the little blue figure dart to the house next-door to mine. I put the hand I had shook with him to my chest, then brought it to my mouth and gently kissed it.

A little later, another knock sounded at my door. I opened it to find four grinning young women. "Surprise! Welcome to the neighborhood!" said the one in front, a short blond nurse. They filed into my house, each carrying some gifts.

A slim, dryad-like girl with green hair approached me. "Welcome, Ginger. My name is Faye. The nurse over there is Maddie, the one with the hat is Vivian," - at this she gestured to a girl dressed with steampunk flair - "and that one over there, covered in confetti, is Lexus."

"Maddie, Faye, Vivian, Lexus," I said, to remind myself. Lexus, a thin girl with pink hair, came up to me.

"We should throw a welcome party!" she squealed, and shook my hand hard. I winced as my raw wrists throbbed.

Maddie approached and inspected my wrists. "Hmm. A little salve and some bandages and these will heal right up." She glared at Lexus. "Not everything is solved by parties, Lex. One day you'll learn that."

"And when I do, we'll throw a party!" Lexus chirped. Maddie, Faye, and Vivian rolled their eyes.

"How about Ginger opens the gifts we brought?" Faye announced, to change the topic.

"Yeah!" said Maddie. Lexus squealed and clapped her hands. "Open mine first!"

I made my way to the pile of gifts. From Maddie I had an air horn to scare Dante away, from Faye I had a box of healing potions, from Lexus a confetti gun, and from Vivian came a box of what I had assumed were donuts but were actually nanites.

"Courtesy o' me good chum Skylah," said Vivian, vaguely British, as she picked up one of the nanites. "These li'l buggers'll make your enemies rather confused."

"Um, thanks," I said, feeling rather confused myself. I couldn't stop thinking about Sarx, the cute goblin. Little did I know that I had another gift that night, left on my doorstep by an anonymous benefactor.


	3. Chapter 3: Sarx

Chapter 3: Sarx

I stayed up all that night, tossing and turning on my cot. Through the wall I could hear happy chatter. I recognized Maddie's brassy tones, Faye's misty voice, Lexus's excited squeal and Vivian's British accent through the boards, as well as Ginger's clear, melodious laugh. I felt lucky to have all these nice block mates because they had helped me recover from my punishment.

When I was still a part of the goblin legion, I used to stay up all night tinkering with my possessions. I managed to create some pretty neat stuff. One of my proudest accomplishments was a pair of sneakers with small rockets embedded in the heel which allowed flight.

However, the other goblins frowned upon the concept of tinkering and innovating. I vividly remember my father saying to me, "Goblins is made ta _destroy,_ not ta _make_. If ya can't accept that, we won't accept you."

But I couldn't help it. I had a naturally inventive soul. So finally, one day, a horde of goblins carried me to a dangerous underground mine, tied me up, and left me for dead.

I must have been there for days, the ropes cutting into my hands, the spiky balls in my pockets cutting into my legs, starving, delirious, wanting a quick death. But one day Shoshanna appeared, an angel in meteorite armor, a flower tucked behind her ear into her bright purple hair. I will never forget the first time I saw her coming to my rescue. I was so beat-up, so scared, so incredibly tired that I wanted nothing more than a hug, but I settled for kissing Shoshanna's feet and babbling "Thank you, thank you," until I blacked out.

When I awoke, I suddenly realized that I was being attended by a coterie of women. I met Maddie first. She bandaged my wrists and brought my fever down, and told me that I was in Shoshanna's village. Faye fed me broth to bring up my strength, Lexus threw parties to raise my spirits, and Vivian challenged me intellectually by bringing me strange trinkets and letting me analyze them. I was, and still am, incredibly grateful.

Once I had sufficiently recovered, Shoshanna introduced me to the rest of the village and gave me a house. It was on the same block of six as my four friends, with one empty house.

Ginger's house.

That night, I decided what I would do. I picked up a pair of my wonderful rocket boots and put them in a box. I tied a tag to it: _Dear Ginger,_ _I heard you like rockets and running shoes, so I put some rockets in your running shoes. Sincerely, Sarx._


	4. Chapter 4: Ginger

Chapter 4: Ginger

When I got up that morning, I saw a box on my doorstep. The tag read, _Dear Ginger, I heard you like rockets and running shoes, so I put some rockets in your running shoes. Sincerely, Sarx._ I smiled and shook my head. Rocket boots? That little goblin was _spoiling_ me.

I lifted the boots out of their box. They were red, with sturdy gray rubber soles, and gave off an appealing new-rubber smell. Peeking out of the soles of the shoes were the ends of small thrusters, and on the back of the heel of each shoe was a small hatch to supply the thrusters with fuel.

I filled the shoes from the gasoline can provided, and then slipped them on. They fit perfectly. I jumped in the air and the boots immediately kicked in, spewing glorious trails of flame as they lifted me into the sky. They reminded me of how Shoshanna had found me.

When I was small, I lived with my father on the outskirts of a sleepy little village near a dungeon. I don't remember much about my early childhood, except that the other kids and I would run out to the dungeon's roof and dare each other to touch the indigo bricks. The older kids were more daring; they would see who could walk farthest into the yawning caverns of the dungeon, until one kid got killed and the dungeon became off-limits.

My father was a clothier, and he appreciated my natural talent with wires and mechanisms. Once, I made an automatic clothesline that spun, revealing daddy's wares. However, since we lived so close to the dungeon, the keeper selected my father as its host. Over time, he fell under its influence. His eyes slowly turned from sky blue to blood red. He no longer bothered to make, sell, or even change his clothes, which became tattered and dirty. He became more disturbed and vicious. We would fight over trivialities. He sometimes forgot his name. More often than not, he forgot mine.

One day, though, he snapped. My father flew into a tremendous rage, dragged me into the dungeon, and tied me to a pole on a high ledge swarming with skeletons. He turned one last time to me, said, "You're on your own now, insolent girl," and left. Those were the last words he said to me.

I stayed in the dungeon for months. The skeletons brought me gruel and water each day, just enough to keep me alive but not enough to keep my sanity intact. It was perpetually dark, and the weak light given off by the lanterns all but ruined my eyes. I drifted from sleep to wakefulness without really knowing which state I was in and hallucinated often. The water was scummy, the gruel was lumpy, the skeletons were unfriendly, and I had one foot on the edge of insanity and the other foot on a banana peel.

Finally, one day I heard a great death rattle from above. The dungeon keeper had been defeated! Moments later, Shoshanna jumped down into the dungeon and tried to grab my ledge. She couldn't quite reach and so she engaged her rocket boots. The flame trails were so bright that I thought I was dead, but then I felt Shoshanna's hand on my arm, warm and soft and firm and reminding me that this was all real. So I did the only thing I could: burst into tears.

And that was exactly what I did when my rocket boots set me down on the roof, where I had no way to get down.


	5. Chapter 5: Sarx

Chapter 5: Sarx

When I left my house that morning, I heard a familiar voice atop the roof calling, "Sarx? Is that you?"

"Ginger?" I said. "What are you doing on the roof?"

"I flew up here and I can't get down. I'm scared of heights."

"Let me think..." I pondered. I could let her jump and potentially break something, or I could try to catch her and potentially break something. "Oh! I know! Those boots were prototypes for my new crash prevention technology. Once you get within eight inches of the ground they let out a spurt so you only fall a short distance."

"Will I still have to jump?" she asked. I could hear the fear in her voice.

"Relax, Ginger. If anything goes wrong, I'll catch you," I said, hoping I sounded brave.

"You're so sweet," said Ginger, and the words warmed my heart. "I'm going to jump now," she said.

"O.K.," I said, and held out my arms, bracing myself for impact if anything went wrong. Ginger appeared on the edge of the rooftop, then took a deep breath and stepped over the edge. She fell straight down for several feet, and then the crash prevention technology kicked in and the boots let out a quick spurt of flame, buoying her up a little and setting her gently down on the ground. Once she touched down, she lost her balance, and then I saw my chance and swooped in to catch her.

"Good save," she said, looking up into my face. Looking into those sparkling blue eyes, I melted.

"You're beautiful," I said, before I could help it. She laughed.

"I think you're cute," she said back, smiling as she stood up, and before I could say anything she reached out her arms and enfolded me in a beautiful embrace. I reached out my own arms and circled them around Ginger's back, returning the hug, my head against her chest. I could feel her heartbeat speeding up. We only hugged for a second or two, but it felt like forever before she loosened her arms and let me go.

I wanted to run home, but before I could go, Ginger took my head in both hands and gently kissed my forehead, and then she let me go. The place where she had kissed me, the outline of her lips, felt like it was on fire.

I could still feel the lips on my forehead for the rest of the day, and all that night.


	6. Chapter 6: Ginger

**You wanted it, you got it: some nice romantic action starting. Happy Valentine's Day from your friendly neighborhood ObsidianFlutes!**

Chapter 6: Ginger

After I kissed Sarx, I stayed in my house for awhile, feeling kind of gloomy. I kept muttering _stupid stupid stupid _to myself, and I decided that I hated making the first move. Part of me was a little worried that I had jeopardized my chances.

A knock sounded at my door. I opened it, softly asking, "Sarx?"

"Naaaaaaw, it's me," said Dante, the gunsmith. I groaned as he continued to hit on me. "You know, I'd really like to press your pressure plate."

"It's for stepping on, stupid. Go away," I said.

"Let me think about that... NO," said Dante, winking suggestively at me. I frowned and balled my fists.

Dante walked away with an impressive shiner.

"Wow," said a soft, familiar voice near me that made my heart leap. I poked my head farther out of the doorway. There, holding a wrench, was Sarx. "You sure showed him. I've never seen anyone punch anyone else so hard before." He handed me the wrench. "You dropped this."

"Thanks, Sarx," I said, strapping the wrench to my back. The air suddenly felt hot, heavy, and awkward. It was Sarx who finally broke the silence.

"Um, listen," he said tentatively, "I don't know if you're interested, but I'm going to be making scroobles tonight..."

"Scroobles?"

"It's a goblin dish," he said quickly. "Deep-fried frogs' legs with mashed pumpkin and cheese sauce. Melts in your mouth."

"That actually sounds pretty tasty," I said, and my stomach grumbled its assent.

"So, anyways, I'm making scroobles, and I was just wondering, um..." _Say it,_ I pleaded silently. _Don't give up on me now._

"Yes?" I said sweetly, trying to elicit a response.

Sarx blushed all the way up to the tips of his ears, and finally spluttered, "Do you want to come to my house for dinner?"

"I'd love to," I said, taking his hand. I felt my own heartbeat speeding up, until I could no longer distinguish the beats. It was a pleasant thrumming sensation, as if there was an outboard motor in my chest, and I suddenly realized that I had just felt the clichéd sensation of my heart skipping a beat.

"Sarx," I said helplessly, "I think I'm falling in love with you."

"Don't worry, Ginger," he said. "I fell in love with you days ago."

"Oh, Sarx," I said, and lifted up his face and kissed him on the snout.

What made me happiest, though, was when he kissed me back.


End file.
